I used the recommended 2 up, 1 down breathing pattern for almost the entire race. Out of force of habit, I had a couple of every others. I think this helped a ton; I felt stronger throughout the race with no disruption of rhythm! I still crashed and burned with 10 yards to go and almost couldn't recover the arms the last couple strokes, but it wasn't nearly as bad as last year. I went 2 seconds faster today unrested than I did last year when I was fully tapered (same suit, same pool). The time board showed 1:12.2, but the time was reported as 1:12.5. Splits were 33.6 and 38.8. Not great, but still vastly better than last year when I split 33/41.

Had to swim in the final heat in lane 1 due to a couple scratches, which I hate. But I didn't catch any wake.
Took 11 dophin kicks on the start out to exactly the 14.9 meter mark. Freaked out the poor kid.
Took a coffee break on the the turn for big air intentionally.
Floated at least a foot very slowly into the final wall. But I just couldn't bring myself to take another stroke.
Mini's coaches said I looked very "strong." Mini said my stroke looked "good." (This is more feedback than usual. lol)
Definitely going to use this breathing pattern again, and will likely try it in SCY. This may actually enable me to kick further in SCY ...

I'm hoping I can make it out to swim my 100 back tomorrow. I spent about 2 and 1/2 hours in the car today going back and forth to the meet. Out A meet tomorrow AM is in Mt. Vernon, so it will be a bit of a rush unless I go straight to U of Md.
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Prelim TT:

I saw the prelim TT came out. Unfortunately, I also see that both of the 100 backs I swam during the SCY season -- at the September Shootout in Cary NC and at the Auburn Invitational in Alabama were NOT on the list. I'm ticked about this. Both meet entry forms said the times would be submitted, I had received written confirmation from the meet director that my split request form & time were sent to the TT recorder, and the then DZ TT recorder sent me an email (which I believe I reported on my blog) confirming that she would submit the time. Yet both times are AWOL. I have sent emails to Ed Saltzman (DZ TT Recorder) and Mary Beth Windrath), but I doubt there is much that can be done. If not, I won't be attending meets in the Dixie Zone again. I know Cream Puff has had difficulty getting her USA times submitted as well. I'm just not a fan of incompetence. So while I'm very happy with my 100 fly time from today, this was kind of a downer. But I guess I know what I swam.

Nothing good to report otherwise. The plague of contagion from my daughter's middle school has infected her and my house. (Why do kids get strep and flu in June?!) Really busy week ... and I think I'm slightly b*tchy from resting more than usual. I'd like to crawl under a rock for a couple days!! lol

Edit: Mini Fort has mono. I'm a little paranoid that I'm showing symptoms, and that may account for why I've been fairly fatigued lately. Hope not, as that would really mess up my summer swim plans. I know it's unlikely for adults to get it, but I've never had it before. Fingers crossed.

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200 back splits:

Splits are up. It was my 3rd 50 that really stunk. I guess 1:21 + 1:26 isn't all that bad, considering the start always makes my first 50 fast.

38.46
1:21.12 (42.66)
2:05.27 (44.15)
2:47.34 (42.07)

(Still hoping to sneak into TT. I would have been 6th last year. But I bet Indy will be more popular than LCM Nats last summer.)

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Food:

Fell off the wagon again some this weekend, but I was barely home. Clean eating requires a lot of time, ability to get to the grocery store regularly and eating at home. Not bad, I just had to have a couple sandwiches on the run, a muffin, etc.

Well, I survived my first ever 200 LC. And it was a no float 200 back, as B70s are barred at USA-S meets. I guess I'm glad I did it, but I don't care to repeat the experience! It's just waaaay too far unless I start training 5Ks like Ande. I was sort of testing out the event to see if I could/should swim it at Nats. No, I'll opt to get a 50 back split on my 200 at Indy during the first day's events. I will happily embrace my weenie sprinter nature.

Anyway, went a 2:47, which was about half a second slower than my converted time from yards. (I don't always believe converted times are accurate for us geezers anyway.) No idea on my splits, as they only post final times. Think they will probably be pretty dodgy. I tried to swim long and easy speed for about 150, but I still had nothing left the last length -- especially judging by the USA swimmer in the adjacent lane who made up almost a body length on the last length to touch with me. But, frankly, I'll still take the time, as I had a hard exhausting day on Saturday (officiating in the heat at a summer league meet, dance recitals, etc.) and had contemplating not swimming at all today.

And BTW, can these kids learn to do backstroke starts?! I hate being a body length ahead at 15 meters and have them slowly creep up! I also played it safe on the start and took 12 or 13 SDKs, as there was an official sitting in a chair right at the 15 meter mark.

Probably did about 2000+ meters with the warm up and warm down. I didn't even attempt to warm up in the competition pool, as it's such a mosh pit of kids. I got there early and warmed up in the rec pool.

Ventured back to the pool today to swim another 200. The vlogger guessed it -- 200 IM. Naturally, I fully intended and would have preferred to swim it with my B70. Indeed, I brought my 23+ swims B70 to the pool for this very purpose!

But as fans of Vlad the Vlogger, that evil disseminator of private text messages, already know, I busted a huge hole in the suit. A friend, scyfreestyler, said: "I told you to kick ass, not show ass." Fortunately, for everyone involved, I did NOT pull a Laura Smith, as my wardrobe malfunction occurred in the privacy of the locker room. Right on the heels of having set a PR by shimmying into it in 2 minutes flat ... Perhaps that was a sign ... Spurned, I reached into my bag and, lo and behold, I left the Hineck Pro I wore for yesterday's 200 back on the drying rack ... So I was forced to borrow a dry suit from my daughter: bright pink floral Splish suit.

Thusly attired, and with 30 years of rust, I rather cautiously approached the blocks for the event. I was spurred on by the sure knowledge that my daughter would never let me live it down if I didn't swim (and would be thrilled to be so much faster than me) and that Stevenson (or others) would haul out the "ninny" word. So I gamely gave it a whirl and finished in a 2:26.35.

I must confess I completely bonked on the last 50. No gas left at all. I was also coffee breaking on the turns. Don't know what my splits were as I was swimming in a different pool than my daughter. (Her coaches sometimes get my splits.) Still, I was happy with the time, and suspect I would have gone roughly 2 seconds faster if properly clad.

Thoughts:

Woke up today and despite a lot of stretching and fluids my calves were still sore from the cramping yesterday. They cramped again right on the start. I think this reduced my enjoyment of the race. I felt like I was SDK-ing like a wee baby. lol Stud says I need to try tonic water.

I also wish I could say I liked this event like Hulk, but, truly, I did not. That was the most pain I've felt as a masters swimmer since the piano fell on my long course 100 fly this summer. Ack. This event might have been a little ambitious for me, and is definitely not for drop dead sprinters. The 200 back seemed comparatively easier. But, still, I'm glad I broke out of my comfort zone this weekend and tried two new events.

I took 3 strokes from the flags before flipping on backstroke today. Was very close to the wall. I guess now that I have a ripped B70, I can haul the thing with me to the pool and practice turns in it. (Tank underneath of course.)

Didn't swim the 100 back today. My seed time hadn't been changed in the system. Wouldn't have gotten enough rest. Reminder never to even think of doing back to back events.

I really didn't enjoy swimming without a tech suit and have no intention whatsoever of repeating this incident!!!!!! I guess I know not to push B70's 25 swims promise without a back up suit.

Swam the 200 back for the first time in 30 years. (Never swam it as a freshman in college because we had a designated backstroker.) I'm glad I did it too, even though it's a decidedly different kind of pain than sprinting -- an insidious creeping all over kind of pain. Couldn't do it on a regular basis though.

I was secretly hoping to go around 2:26, as that was the cut off for Top Ten last year. Went a 2:22.36 ... very happy with the time. The swim, however, was, er, an adventure. Calves cramped slightly on the start. But mainly I had a hard time negotiating all the turns. Ideally, I need to take 2 and 1/2 strokes from the flags in before flipping. If I take 2, I glide in; if I take 3, I jam the wall. Decided to take 2 today and glided in big time to most of my turns. My streamlines off the wall weren't so great either. Didn't want to SDK much, but overcompensated and broke out too early. Obviously, my inexperience showed. These things never really discourage me, though, they just make me realize I could go faster if I fixed the problems.

Despite how blastedly tired I felt when the race ended and now, I'm not completely dissuaded from trying it again. (This thought does not apply to the 200 fly, which I still will not try under any known circumstances.)

Don't know what my splits were as the results aren't posted yet.

Still trying to decide whether to swim the 100 backstroke right before my secret event tomorrow or just the secret event. Probably just the latter unless I wake up loads of energy. I love cruising into USS meets and only doing an event or two with no pressure for practice.

I did end up signing up for the 200 backstroke at Auburn, though not the open 100 as it's right before the 50 fly. So I have to decide whether to swim it for a 100 split or just swim it. It would be my last event of the meet. And, by the way, I can't imagine swimming any event within a couple hours of a 200. Those are hard to recover from.